Bytware Adds Auditing to i OS Security Product

July 14, 2009 Alex Woodie

Bytware recently launched a new release of its StandGuard Security product for i OS. With version 4.5, the software gains new auditing functions and a greater capability to manage security policies. Previously, StandGuard focused primarily on network security and exit point monitoring for System i servers, but Bytware’s new owners, Help/Systems and the Audax Group private equity group, foresee StandGuard playing a larger security role for its customers.

StandGuard Security (formerly StandGuard Network Security) is a collection of security modules aimed at helping administrators get a handle on the native security functions built into i OS (i5/OS). The suite includes three main components, including exit point monitoring for the various network connections in the operating system (such as ODBC and FTP); general security monitoring through the QAUDJRN, which provide notifications of events such as profile changes or authority failures; and, now with version 4.5, system security audits for ensuring compliance with various regulatory mandates.

The new auditing function in StandGuard provides users with “lightweight” auditing capability designed to give StandGuard shops a better handle on their security posture, but without requiring them to upgrade to a more powerful i OS security product, such as those offered by PowerTech, according to Tom Huntington, vice president of technical services for Help/Systems.

“It is a lighter offer[ing] without the graphical interfaces that we have in the Compliance Monitor and Network Security products from PowerTech,” Huntington says in an e-mail. PowerTech is also owned by the equity group behind Help/Systems, and the three companies are increasingly being managed by Help/Systems as one entity.

New auditing functions in StandGuard Security include the capability to check system authority settings; to analyze user profile authority; to expose areas of vulnerability; to compare a user’s i OS security settings against “best practices” as defined by COBIT and PriceWaterhouseCooper; and to provide recommendations to create a secure system.

StandGuard Security works with i5/OS V5R4 and higher. Pricing was not provided by the vendor. For more information see www.bytware.com.